The map on the left shows sea surface temperatures for part of the Gulf Stream. The map on the right shows chlorophyll concentrations in the same area.

! Examine the two images to look for patterns that would indicate the two quantities are related.

NOAA/NESDIS

Sea surface temperatures
for the Atlantic.

NASA

Chlorophyll
concentrations in the Atlantic.

You
can see that phytoplankton is generally more abundant
in colder waters and less abundant in warmer waters. Other
factors such as depth affect chlorophyll concentration
too, but we will focus only on temperature to examine
how eddies affect productivity.